Spelter-breaker



J. B. COE. SPELTER BREAKER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, I920.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921'.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR J. R. 005

#31 M flow ATIORNEVS J. R. COE.

SPELTEB BREAKER- APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11. 1920.

Patented Jan. 4. 1921.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. R. COE.

SPELTER BREAKER.

APPLIQATION FILED JUNE 17. 1920.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4K J. R. COE.

SPELTER BREAKER. APPLICATION man JUNE 17. 1920.

, Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

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ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES Bonn er con, or wnrnnnnny, connncriour, ssronon TO THE AMERICAN BRASS COMPANY, or WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF Con- NECTI'CUT.

SlELTER-BREAKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921 Application filed June 1'7, 1920. Serial No. 389,676.

To all to 7mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES R. Con, a citizen of the United States, residing at iVaterbury, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in S elter-Breakers, of which the following is a ull, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an apparatus for breaking cakes of spelter and has for its object to produce a machine for accomplishing mechanically a result heretofore usually, if not always, attained by hand. It further has for its object to reduce the cost and labor of breaking bars of spelter and the like and also to provide a means for doing it more rapidly.

Spelter is ordinarily made in elongated cakes of such size too large to be put in the ordinary crucible, so that it is necessary to break them up. This material is of a peculiar nature in that its physical properties difier very considerably due to natural temperature changes. When cold, the spelter is very brittle and easy to break. iVhen warm, it is very tough and difficult to break or even to shear. As a result of these characteristics, it has become a standard practice to break the spelter cakes by a hand hammer upon a cast iron block with a V-shaped groove, the walls of whlch groove are stepped to accommodate cakes of various lengths which are placed thereon so as to bridge the V so that they may be broken by blows at their unsupported center.

This hand operation is a slow and laborious one. With the machine embodying my invention described herein, the cakes may be delivered directly from the door of a railroad car and broken up as fast as they can be unloaded from the car, the machine delivering the same to a storage bin or a container for transporting the broken cakes to storage bins or the casting shop.

The following is adescription of an embodiment of my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a plan view of a machine embodying my invention;

' Fig. 2 is an end view looking towardthe left hand end of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3, Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a section on the line 47-4, Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail viewof the clutch; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing a modified form of apparatus. Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 is a base having an electric motor Q mounted thereon and driving through a pinion 3a train of reducing gearing which actuates aplurality of revoluble juxtaposed slotted shafts or rolls which form a distinctive part of my invention. 4:, 5, 6,7 and 8 constitute the train of reducing gearmg acting to drive one of the slotted shafts 9 which is geared by gearing 10, 11 and 12 to two other juxtaposed slotted shafts 13 and 14:, so that adjacent shafts rotate in opposite directions. The axes of these shafts lie in an inclined plane as shown in Figs. 2 and l. These shafts are provided with transverse openings or slots 15, Fig. 4, and are geared together so that the openings are adapted to be in alinement with each other and with an opening 16 in'the frame of the machine, the opening 16 being intended to admit cakes of spelter fed to the machine. [it the lower end of the series of openings 15, when in line, is a massive bar 17 which acts as a buffer to receive the impact of the cakes of spelter introduced through the opening 16. 18 is an inclined chute adapted to receive the broken pieces of spelter and discharge them from the.

machine.

In operating the machine, the shafts are brought to a condition of rest in the position shown in Fig. 4 by the action of a suitable clutch and brake. A cake of spelter is then fed through the opening 16 so as to extend through the openings 15 in the three shafts. The clutch hereinafter described is then tripped, causing the shafts 9, 13 and 141 to revolve one-half revolution, whereupon the clutch is released and the shafts stopped with the slots again in line. This semi-revolution breaks the cake of spelter into three parts, a break being formed between each pair of rolls. The first action consists of a bending of the cake until at least a partial fracture obtains, the second action being a pulling apart of such fibers or parts as were not fractured during'the first bending action. WVhen the slots reach an approximately vertical position, gravity tends to cause the broken pieces to fall from the openings 15 upon the chute 18, by which they are conducted to any desired location.

On account of the nature of the spelter, particularly in warm weather, burs may be formed upon the edges of the fragments during the breaking action or a deformation of the cakes takes place during the bending operation which tends to interfere with the free falling of the fragments from the opening 15 when in vertical position. In order to eliminate the danger of not having the fragments fall from the openings 15 I provide an ejector-plate 19 having projections 20, 21 and 22, each of which has an inclined lower surface, the surface on any projection being inclined in the same direction as the direction in which the corresponding shaft rotates. This plate rests upon the shafts and is held in position by a link 23 pivoted thereto at 24 and to the frame at 25 so as to be free to move toward and away from the axes of the shafts. The projections 20, 21 and 22 fall into the corresponding openings 15 when these openings are vertical and knock out any fragment of spelter that may be retained therein by burs or deformations, so that when the openings 15 are again in alinement they are clear. The inclined bases upon the projections 20, 21 and 22 when engaged by the approaching edges of the openings 15 in the respective shafts cam the plate 19 upward so that the lower ends ofthe projections rest upon the peripheries of the shafts when not in the openings.

In order to control the motion of the shafts 9, 13 and 14, I provide a one-revolution clutch for connecting the shaft 26 with the gear 6, which otherwise rotates freely thereon. This shaft 26 carries the pinion 7 which engages the gear 8, the ratio between the gears 7 and 8 being the ratio of one to two, so that a complete revolution of the shaft 26 results in a half revolution of the breaking shafts 9, 13 and 14. The onerevolution clutch is of ordinary construction, one member 27 being secured to the gear 6, while the other member 28 is slidingly mounted upon the shaft 26 so as to always rotate therewith. The member 28 is provided with the ordinary cam 29 which is engaged and disengaged by the roller 30 on the weighted trip-arm 31 which is adapted to be depressed by the foot treadle 32 when desired. When the foot treadle 32 is depressed, the parts being in the position shown in Fig. 3, the member 28 is released so that it is forced into engagement with member 27 by the spring 33 acting to drive the shaft 26 until the member 28 is retractedby the roll 30 on trip 31, which, if the pedal 32 is only held depressed momentarily, is after the shaft 26 has made a com plete revolution. When the shaft 26 has made one revolution, the roller 30 engaging the cam 33 opens the clutch.

In order to check the shaft 26 after the clutch member 28 has been withdrawn I provide an ordinary friction or drag brake 34 bearing upon a friction member 35 which acts to check the shaft 26 upon the opening of the clutch.

If desired, the clutch can be actuated b the spelter bar instead of by a treadle. construction for accomplishing this result is shown in Fig. 6 and comprises a plunger 36 located in line with the openings 15 in four rotating shafts, all geared together and to a motor 2 so as to rotate synchronously. This plunger bears against the arm of a bell-crank lever 37 to the other arm of which is connected a link 38 which is connected to one arm of a bell-crank lever 39, whose other arm is connected to a retracting member 40. This retracting member has a recess 41 which engages an abutment upon the trip 42 which acts upon a movable clutch memher on the shaft 26 in substantially the same manner as the trip 31. The trip 42 in this case is moved upward by a spring 43. The member 39 is moved toward engaging position by the spring 44. The plunger 36 is held in proper position by the spring 45.

In the operation of this modified form when a bar of spelter is introduced into the openings 15 through the openings 16 it hits the plunger 36, causing that to actuate the bell-crank lever 37, which in turn actuates the bell-crank lever 39, drawing down the releasing member 40 which withdraws the trip 42. As soon as the plunger 36 is free it returns to its normal position, causing the trip 42 to return to its normal position and disengage the movable clutch member.

As will be evident to those skilled in the art, my invention permits of various modithereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a plurality of rotatable shafts arranged side by side, said shafts having transverse openings adapted to be alined with one another, means for rotating said shafts, and means for stopping said shafts with said openings in alinement.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a plurality of rotatable shafts arranged side by side, said shafts having transverse openings adapted to be alined with one another, means for rotating said shafts, means for stopping said shafts with said openings in alinement, and ejector means resting on said shafts and having projections adapted to enter said openings.

3. In amachine of the character described, the combination of a plurality of rotatable shafts arranged side by side, said shafts having transverse openings adapted to be alined with one another, means for rotating said shafts and means for stopping said shafts with said openings in alinement, the

axes of said rollers lying in an inclined plane.

4. In a machine of the character described,

the combination of a plurality of rotatable shafts arranged side by side, said shafts having transverse openings adapted to be alined with one another, means for rotating said shafts, means for stopping said shafts with said openings in alinement, and ejector means resting on said shafts and having projections adapted to enter said openings, said projections having faces inclined in the same direction as the-direction in which the shafts with which they respectively engage rotate.

5. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a plurality of rotatable shafts arranged side by side, said shafts having transverse openings adapted to be alined with one another, a main driving shaft, reducing gearing connecting said main driving shaft and said rotatable shafts, a clutch between said main driving shaft and rotatable shafts for connecting and disconnecting the same, and a brake for stopping said rotatable shafts when said clutch is released.

6. In amachinc of the character described, the combination of a plurality of rotatable shafts arranged side by side, said shafts having transverse openings adapted to be alined with one another, a main driving shaft, reducing gearing connecting said main driving shaft and said rotatable shafts, a clutch between said main driving shaft and rotatable shafts for connecting and disconnecting the same, and means in line with said openings adapted to be moved by a cake inserted therein for actuating the trip of said clutch.

7. In amachine of the character described, the combination of a plurality of rotatable shafts arranged side b side, said shafts having transverse openlngs adapted to be alined with one another, and means for rotating said shafts.

JAMES ROBERT COE. 

